Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Birthdays and the end of the year for me is always a time of review and reflection of the year past and looking forward to new things in the year to come.   The year 2019 have been an exceptionally great year for me, in that my ministry challenges me to become a better version of myself.  I am in a ministry that I am passionate about, because hopefully I am making a difference in our archdiocese.  My ministry challenges me frequently to bring forth gifts I didn’t even know that I possessed.  I think it is truly ironic that a ministry, that at first, I didn’t want, I am now passionate about and I am told I am very good at it.  I tend to believe it when one of the persons is the archbishop among others who tell me this.  God really works in mysterious ways. Relationships are truly vital to me and to who I am as a person.  I lost one of my dearest friend and sister this year, she saw the good in me, she saw my gif...

I love Celebrations!!  Who doesn’t?  Last week was a week of celebrations.  My sisters and I gathered at my youngest sister’s (Janet) home.  It was Sister’s Week, a yearly event during which the five of us celebrate being sister to one another.  While there, we hosted a baby shower for Janet’s daughter-in-law and newest grandchild, a little boy much anticipated and longed for after Ami’s 3 miscarriages.  The new baby has an older brother who is 16.  What a change and celebration for that family! We also celebrated Janet’s birthday by participating in a murder mystery train ride.   Between courses of a five-course dinner, actors did scenes from a murder mystery play in each of the dining cars.   It was up to the train riders to guess the murderer and the motive.   We shared in the meal, delightful conversation, and of course, speculations regarding “who done it.”   None of us made the correct deduction, but we celebrated well....

My birthday falls on June 14 th —the same day this blog falls due. Our lives are made of up a series of sometimes minor and sometimes significant dates.   Because we’re the conscientious sort, most of us try to attend to the first type of date and pay attention without giving too much significance to the latter.   I keep lists, for example, of things I should get to on any day—from sending an anniversary card to getting to an appointment.   I suppose I consider my birthday among the significant dates.    (I’ve forgotten the dates of my graduations; I’d forget most other dates if I didn’t have them written down.)   My folks always made a minor fuss about our birthdays:   Mom made a cake on that day. Since my birthday fell in June, we often went on a picnic.   I remember that the water was always a bit cold for swimming but I went in anyway. As adults, we may feel that we should put away childish things such as caring about our birthdays....

Celebrating a birthday or as I like to call it- a new year of life, always puts me in a reflective mode.   It makes me look at the years gone by and see how I have grown or maybe not grown in the ways I would like to.    A few weeks ago I almost got into a serious car accident.   I have heard people speak about having your whole life flash in front of you.   I don’t think my whole life flashed in front of me, but I do know that that experience made me more grateful and thankful for my life. My life is a precious gift from God and what I do with my one life is my gift to God.   After my near tragic experience some people may say that there was probably a logical and scientific explanation to why I am safe today.   Today I say that it was a miracle. Whatever we chose to call this mysterious awesome being is irrelevant; I know I was kept safe from harm on that day.   To make matters even more interesting after my near collision the song that cam...

It was my birthday last Thursday.  Have you noticed how fast the years are rolling by and as you get older they seem to FLY by!!  That's how it seems to me anyways.  But it was a time for me to relish being born and to celebrate being alive.  The presents, cards, emails, phone calls, visits, and even the sometimes off key but always hilarious singing of "happy birthday" said to me that my Sinsinawa family, my blood family and my friends are glad that I am a part of their lives and I felt so grateful too, to have them as a part of mine. Today I thank God for the gift of family and friends.   With whom do you celebrate your birthday?  Gail Jagroop, OP St. Joseph, Trinidad